Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks to all of you guys again for you input the other night. I wanted to keep all of you updated on the situation. The guy now has demanded that I pay for the full amount of the snake. Which I have refused to do. So he has now resorted to threats. Crazy world we live in. I'll keep everyone updated from time to time on "as the ball python turns"...lol

Best Wishes,
Taylor James

TJ,

Post the details on the forum that shall not be named so others can avoid your misfortune.
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Jay A. Martin

Sucks man...keep at it though! Keep us updated!

Ryan

To be frank, and I don't mean to sound unprofessional or anything...but I would tell him where to stick it.

I just paid for a normal '04 hatchling. The gentleman I bought it from hasn't shipped it yet because it was 9 degrees outside in my state the other night. He felt it would be too cold, and I agreed.

The person who shipped you the snake should have waited to ship if he thought it was too cold, not loaded the poor snake up with heat packs. His irresponsibility led to the snake's death.

Sure, he didn't specify live arrival guarenteed, but come on! When you buy a snake, you EXPECT live arrival. You don't pay top dollar for a cadaver.

You paid the shipping, and I would leave it at that.

The real loser is the poor dead snake who paid the highest price of all.

They both agreed on a shipping date whem James T knew it was gonna snow where he is at. I feel they are both at fault and James T should not pay the guy for the snake but take it as a lose for shipping.

Hey Taylor,

I read the thread below and agree you don't owe this guy a dime. It's 100% his fault that he doesn't know how to pack and ship a snake.
I have people e-mailing me all the time with adult female Ball Pythons and I bet 90% of the ones I been offered are non-feeding imports. For all you know this person could have been setting you up with a scam.
Personally I won't pay for an adult female Ball Python until it feeds at least once for me unless there is enough prove like pictures of it feeding.

Good luck
Serpent's Den

"For all you know this person could have been setting you up with a scam."

If the truth could ever be known ...then i would place a hefty wager that the animal died previous to shipping anyway.I am betting this person was looking for any way he/she could to defer the cost of either a new snake or a nice quality thermostat(yep)....i mean hey,its worth a shot right? ..i mean,it is already dead and all...
If it were me? I would be downright furious over the shipping cost loss already incurred.
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Charles Glaspie

Yeah, but snakes do die in shipping. I would never have a snake shipped unless I absolutely cannot find anything similarly priced within several hours driving distance. Not only is it easier on the snake, but you know exactly what you are getting from the person.

But we shouldn't let the few bad people out there poison us against everyone. Always assume the person you are dealing with is honest until they prove to be otherwise. If you assume everyone is out to get you, then you will cause as many problems as you solve.

If you have no proof that someone sent a dead snake, don't even accuse them, but also, don't send them more money. If the guy really had planned on selling a dead snake and scamming someone, he would have demanded the money up front, not agreed to be paid later.

"Trust everyone, but lock your car"

In addition to trusting our fellow man, we should also have the virtue of owning up to our own mistakes.

This isn't a case of someone who is trying to scam someone else by sending them a dead animal. Instead, this is a case of a person who did something foolish with some heat packs and is now trying to get someone else to pay for that mistake. In my opinion that's just plain wrong.

I still say... n.o.p.e. (not one penny ever)

Maybe it is just cause we are in Canada and it is pretty dang cold up here but I had 6 BP's shipped to me in Dec. It was freezing cold outside but I bought from very reliable people (Corey Woods and Eric Chin) who know how to pack their animals. All of my animals were in perfect health and are doing fine. Our outside temps were probably around -20C on my end but the snakes were fine.

In your case I would not pay another cent and in the future make sure you are buying from someone reliable. Also use a credit card unless you really trust the seller since you can always reverse the charges if the animal doesn't show up or arrives dead, etc.

Good luck in the future.
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Nita Hamilton
4.13 Normal BP's, 1.0 Het Orange Ghost BP, 1.0 Het Pied 1.0 50% poss Het Orange Ghost BP's